Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF)

Transcription

1 Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC ADVICE FOR 2012 Part 2 (STECF-11-09) CORRIGENDUM STECF advice on hake (Merluccius merluccius) in Division Vb (1), VI and VII, VIII and XII, XIV (Northern hake) CORRIGENDUM ISSUED ON 28 SEPTEMBER 2011 Edited by John Casey, Willy Vanhee and Hendrik Doerner EUR EN

2 The mission of the Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) is to provide research results and to support EU policy-makers in their effort towards global security and towards protection of European citizens from accidents, deliberate attacks, fraud and illegal actions against EU policies. The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) has been established by the European Commission. The STECF is being consulted at regular intervals on matters pertaining to the conservation and management of living aquatic resources, including biological, economic, environmental, social and technical considerations. European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen Contact information Address: TP 051, Ispra (VA), Italy Tel.: Fax: Legal Notice Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of this publication. This report does not necessarily reflect the view of the European Commission and in no way anticipates the Commission s future policy in this area. Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to numbers or these calls may be billed. A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server JRC ISBN EUR EN ISSN (online) ISSN (print) doi: /77654 Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union European Union, 2011 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged Printed in Italy

3 SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC COMMITTEE FOR FISHERIES (STECF) REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC ADVICE FOR 2011 Part 2 CORRIGENDUM The text below should replace the corresponding sections in the Part 2 of the STECF Review of advice for 2012 (STECF Review of scientific advice for 2012 Part 2. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, EUR EN, JRC66020). 7.2 Hake (Merluccius merluccius) in Division Vb (1), VI and VII, VIII and XII, XIV (Northern hake) The management area covers Skagerrak, Kattegat, IIa, IIIb,c,d, IV, VI, VII, VIII, XII and XIV with separate TAC's for these Divisions. FISHERIES: Hake is caught in mixed fisheries together with megrim, anglerfish and Nephrops. Discards of juvenile hake can be substantial in some areas and fleets. An important increase in landings has occurred in the northern part of the distribution area (Division IIIa, and Subareas IV and VI) in recent years. Since the introduction of the high vertical opening trawls in the mid-1990s, no significant changes in fishing technology have been introduced. Landings have increased since 2006 and reached t in 2010, the highest figure since SOURCE OF MANAGEMENT ADVICE: The main management advisory body is ICES. The advice is based on a length-based assessment using commercial catch data and survey data. This stock was benchmarked in This year s assessment presents major revisions in relation to last year: (i) new assessment model, (ii) incorporation of discards, (iii) faster growth rate. The time period has been extended back to This has improved the model s ability to determine the degree to which various levels of fishing reduced hake abundance during the mid-1980s and the 1990s and thus provides a clearer perspective of the historical development of the stock. Last year s assessment was indicative of trends. This year s assessment is consistent with last year s F and SSB trends. REFERENCE POINTS: Type Value Technical basis MSY MSY B trigger Not defined Approach F MSY 0.24 F 30%SPR B lim Not defined Precautionary B pa Not defined Approach F lim Not defined F pa Not defined Fish Mort Yield/R SSB/R (Length 15 80cm) F max F F 35%SPR F 30%SPR MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT: A recovery plan was agreed by EU in 2004 (EC Reg. No. 811/2004). The aim of the plan was to increase the SSB to above t with a fishing mortality (Fmgt) of 0.25, constrained by a year-to-year change in TAC of 15% when SSB is above t. ICES have not evaluated the plan. At present (2011) the SSB is estimated to be above t, but the reference points used as basis for that 3

4 recovery plan are not considered valid anymore. The application of a new assessment method has, however, resulted in a change in the perception of the historical stock and the previous defined precautionary reference points, on which the recovery plan is based, are no longer appropriate. A proposal for a long-term plan has been put forward by the EU in 2009 (COM(2009) 122 final). The aim of the proposal is to reach maximum sustainable yield. STOCK STATUS: MSY (F MSY ) Precautionary approach (F pa,f lim ) MSY (B trigger ) Precautionary approach (B pa,b lim ) Qualitative evaluation F (Fishing Mortality) Above target Undefined SSB (Spawning-Stock Biomass) Undefined Undefined Above poss. reference points The spawning biomass has been increasing since 1998 and is estimated to be record high in Fishing mortality has been decreasing in recent years, but is still above FMSY. Recruitment fluctuations appear to be without substantial trend over the whole series. After several high recruitments in 2006 to 2008, the last two recruitments are estimated to be low. RECENT MANAGEMENT ADVICE: ICES advises on the basis of the transition to the MSY approach that landings in 2012 should be no more than t. MSY approach The stock is considered to be above any potential MSY B trigger. Following the ICES MSY framework implies fishing mortality to be reduced to 0.24, resulting in landings of tonnes in This is expected to lead to an SSB of tonnes in Following the transition scheme towards the ICES MSY framework implies fishing mortality be reduced to 0.33 and corresponding to landing of tonnes. This is expected to lead to an SSB of tonnes in Additional considerations Discards of juvenile hake can be substantial in some areas and fleets. The spawning biomass and the long-term yield can be substantially improved by reducing mortality of small fish. This could be achieved by measures that reduce unwanted bycatch through shifting the selection pattern towards larger fish. FISHING OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2012 according to COM(2011) 298-Final. STECF notes that with reference to COM(2011) 298-final, and in the absence of an agreed management plan, this stock is classified under category 2. The rules for category 2 prescribe that for 2012, a TAC for Northern Hake of 51,900 tonnes should be proposed. STECF also notes that the proposed management plan (COM(2009) 122 final), which has not yet been adopted, prescribes that for 2012, a TAC for Northern hake of 46,839 t should be proposed, based on a 15% reduction in the TAC for

5 STECF COMMENTS: STECF agrees with the ICES assessment of the state of the stock and agrees with the ICES advice for STECF also agrees with ICES that effective measures to reduce discarding are also needed, given the substantial discards of juvenile hake in some areas and fleets. STECF notes the ICES comment that due to the new perspective of historical stock trends, resulting from the new assessment, the previously defined precautionary reference points are no longer appropriate. In particular, the absolute levels of spawning biomass, fishing mortality, and recruitment have shifted to different scales. As a consequence, the TAC corresponding to the current recovery plan (EC Reg. No. 811/2004) should not be considered, because the plan uses target values based on precautionary reference points that are no longer appropriate. 5

6 European Commission EUR EN Joint Research Centre Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen Title: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries. Review of Scientific advice for 2011 Part 2. Corrigendum. STECF members: Casey, J., Abella, J. A., Andersen, J., Bailey, N., Bertignac, M., Cardinale, M., Curtis, H., Daskalov, G., Delaney, A., Döring, R., Garcia Rodriguez, M., Gascuel, D., Graham, N., Gustavsson, T., Jennings, S., Kenny, A., Kirkegaard, E., Kraak, S., Kuikka, S., Malvarosa, L., Martin, P., Motova, A., Murua, H., Nowakowski, P., Prelezzo, R., Sala, A., Somarakis, S., Stransky, C., Theret, F., Ulrich, C., Vanhee, W. & Van Oostenbrugge Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union x 29.7 cm EUR Scientific and Technical Research series ISSN (online), ISSN (print) ISBN doi: /77654 Abstract This corrigendum should replace the corresponding sections in the Part 2 of the STECF Review of advice for 2012 (STECF Review of scientific advice for 2012 Part 2. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, EUR EN, JRC66020).

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8 The mission of the JRC is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union. Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national. LB-N EN-N The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) has been established by the European Commission. The STECF is being consulted at regular intervals on matters pertaining to the conservation and management of living aquatic resources, including biological, economic, environmental, social and technical considerations.